Fight of our Lives (Sequel to Kiss of Destiny)
by LauraAndJess
Summary: Amarianna, the daughter of Dean and Laura, has to overcome her demonic side before she kills everyone she loves.
1. Chapter 1

(Please read Kiss of Destiny before reading Fight of our Lives): s/9784418/1/Kiss-of-Destiny-A-Supernatural-Love-Story

~Mercedes' P.O.V.~

After the nest of djinn killed Laura, Jess, Sam and Dean, Bobby and I were left to raise Amarianna. Eli was never heard from or seen since he disappeared from the djinn nest. Bobby and I just figured he had gone back up to heaven where he knew he was safe, since we never found a body.

It's been about 12 years since the incident and Amarianna reminds me so much about Laura. Of course Bobby and I tried to search for them, they all came back before so why not now. Only things must have been different, not a single demon I talked to would bite, I stayed up late at night having to be comforted by Bobby. He knew me and was the only one who could calm me down. Taking care of Amarianna required our full attention. She needed us since she didn't have her parents or Aunt and Uncle.

School for Amarianna was difficult. The other kids knew that she was different so they shut her out. It got to the point where it was so bad, Bobby and I had to pull her out and home school her. Currently Amarianna and I are sitting at the kitchen working on her math work while Bobby is in the library. Even after 12 years he still tries to find his family, searching for demonic omens, geographical disturbances that could indicate the power of a seraph or abraxas nearby.

"Mercedes, why does Grandpa stay in the library all the time?" Amarianna asked me out of the blue. I looked towards the closed library doors and sighed outwardly.

"He's still having a hard time adjusting to the loss."

"It's been 12 years. They aren't coming back. Mom and Dad aren't coming back for me." She stood up abruptly and walked out the back door. Aria said it with such conviction it stunned me for a few seconds. I never thought a sixteen year old could harbor resent towards the people who loved her till they tragically died and didn't come back. I collected the math supplies and brought them back into the library. I noticed Bobby had actually fallen asleep at his desk.

The book Bobby had fallen asleep on was open to a page on angels, how they came to be, where they were, heaven's location and mammoth amounts of lore behind them. Although we hadn't seen Eli in twelve years he must still be alive because we never found his body. Another sigh escaped my lips, life felt so empty without Laura and Jessica's music blasting through the house. It just wasn't complete without Dean and Sam's bickering to fill this growing void.

Suddenly there came a chorus of heavy metal, blasting its way through the back doors giving away the fact that Aria was by the garage again reading anything she could about cars and using the facts to salvage through the junkyard. Taste in music was one of the many things Aria gained from Laura. Something else we presume she gained from her father was her fascination with older cars.

I closed the book Bobby left open and grabbed a blanket off the messy couch the same as always. _Some things never change. _I flicked the light off and with robotic like movements prepared for bed.

~Third Person P.O.V.~

After Aria calmed down enough to sleep, she went upstairs to her room, which Mercedes had informed her had been her parents room when they were alive. Just thinking of them made her mad again. The lights flickered a little, a side effect, she was told, from the demonic powers she received from her mother. Aria constantly wondered why her parents had to leave her, she had vague memories of them from when she was four but nothing solid to hold on to. Not like she would want to hold on to memories of them anyway. From what Mercedes and Grandpa told her, her parents never came back for her even though they have before.

Grandpa frequently told her that they aren't gone for good, that their spirits are out there and searching for a way back to her. She didn't believe any of it. If you're dead, you're dead. If her parents had been able to come back to her, why didn't they? Why did they leave her with these freak powers? The lights flickered more violently, Aria took a few deep breaths to calm herself before she started a fire. She sighed, undressed and climbed into bed.

_Through the dark of night come the terrors that bind Amarianna to what she is inside, a demon. This demon's soul is dark as coal, it knows nothing except basic killing instinct. Amarianna is young, she cannot control the demon as it lifts her from her bed at night. A supernatural mist blows over the full moon hiding it from the atrocity of her inner demons. The hallway lights flicker as a black-eyed child walks, knife in hand. She finds her way into her grandfather's library where he sleeps. The demon lifts the knife over her head, it glints of the flicker of the lights. Too late did her grandfather wake to see her eyes filled with darkness. Amarianna brings the knife down, once, twice, three times. She continues until the screams die out into the dark of night. The demon laughs maniacally. "What have you done!?" The skinwalker calls from the doorway, eyes and mouth wide taking in the bloody scene before her._

Aria woke up long enough to see her work, she screamed in fear of the unknown. Blood filled her vision as she looked around she realized she wasn't hurt but Bobby was. He was bent over the desk his head lopped to the side mouth spilling blood. Aria screamed again, fear, confusion, guilt, filled her mind in such large amounts she could do nothing but scream until her screams were all she heard. Aria felt a hand on her shoulder, it was Mercedes for some reason she was encompassed by an orange light. It took Aria a few seconds to realize that light was fire. Her demon powers reacted to her emotions and she'd started a fire.

Aria didn't know what happened but she did know that she had hurt her grandfather, in huge way. Her grandfather was dead because of the monster inside her. The monster she constantly lived in fear of, the monster that consumed her soul had now consumed her family. She backed away from Mercedes. Fearful the monster might show again.

Mercedes screamed at her but she didn't hear anything. The cackling of the flames grew higher, the heat intensified. Aria fell to the ground.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" She screamed, pushing Mercedes's hand back. Aria's screams made the flames grow higher and a support beam came crashing down between her and Mercedes.

"Aria please! Come with me, we have to get out of here!" Suddenly Mercedes's voice came to her over the flames.

"I'M A MONSTER!" She screamed back.

"You are not a monster, Aria…I'm not afraid of you. I will help you if you just come with me!"

Mercedes was still in the same spot, coughing from the smoke but standing resolute trying to reach out to Aria through the flames. Aria's mind calmed a little she reached out to take Mercedes's hand. Aria tried to control her powers and use them to quell the fire just a little. It worked, as Aria and Mercedes's hands touched the fire between them died down enough for them to reach each other. Mercedes embraced Aria, at the same time she led her down the safest path away from the house.

Aria was the only thing Mercedes had that connected her to Laura, she was the only remains of her two best friends, she'd be damned if she lost Aria too. Misfortune struck again as Aria's demons were not content with their work. Aria lost control again, her green eyes succumbed to black. The demon began laughing, before Mercedes could stop to question anything, The demon pushed her forcefully into the closest room, closed the door, grabbed a piece of charred wood and propped it against the door handle. The screams of fear and anger coming from the doorway made the demon laugh.

Just for good measure the demon light the door on fire, though that hardly seemed necessary as the flames around her rose with her laughter.

"Get out of my head!" Aria managed to scream against the demon inside her. She took control of her body again, then lost it again. The demon and Aria went back and forth until her bare feet hit cold gravel. Aria fell to her knees, blood was already spilling onto the ground as she coughed out the smoke she'd inhaled. There was nowhere to run, no where that she would be safe from the monster she was born with. The least Aria could do was make sure those around her never got hurt again. So she stood up and ran...Under the full moons gaze she ran until morning came then kept running…

~Dean's P.O.V.~

I woke up suddenly from a dream that I had. I sat up on the edge of the bed and looked around my surroundings and noticed everything was okay. Laura stirred and sat up next to me. She scooted across the bed and sat behind me, leaning on my back.

"What was it tonight?" She rested her head on my shoulder.

"Bobby was stabbed and the house was engulfed in flames."

"That's terrible. But it was just a dream right?" Laura said.

"Yeah." Was all I replied as I stood up and got dressed. My bones creaked as I stood up, my back ached. "Ah. We're getting old, babe."

"You're getting old. I still look flawless!" Laura joked with me, but the lines on her face said otherwise. Still to me she was as beautiful as the day I met her. I couldn't help but pull her into an embrace. Laura, Jess, Sammy, and I have lived peaceful lives. We raised two kids each, all of whom went on to higher things. Now we were old and our nest was empty, but life was good.

~Jessica's P.O.V.~

I sat next to Laura on a bench in the graveyard outside of town. The tears that flowed all day had finally stopped. She just sat on the bench staring at the fresh grave and headstone.

"Why did he have to go so soon, Jess? I still need him." She looked down at the single red rose in her hand. It was a fake rose that had been hidden amongst the others in her wedding bouquet by Dean. Dean had told her he'd love her till the last rose withered, now that plastic rose had lost most of its coloring. It was bent in multiple places but the one part that was still intact was the rose petals. Dean had loved Laura till his last breath.

"I ask myself the same thing everyday. It's just us now." My eyes absent-mindedly wandered to the headstone beside Dean's. There were no tears anymore, we had cried enough of them to fill a river.

"I don't know if I can live without him now. We've all been through everything together." Laura slowly and carefully stood up and gently placed the rose on Dean's headstone. She slowly turned to face the man responsible for our aching hearts. "Death, you can take me now."

"I'm not going to live without my family." I stood next to Laura. We shared a look, I could see in her face she was ready to leave this world, and so was I. Death took our hands and everything faded to black.


	2. Chapter 2

~Sam's P.O.V.~

I awoke hearing someone yelling my name from a distance. It sounded like Dean. I opened my eyes and saw nothing but white. I walked towards the voice, but the more distance I covered the more the voice faded. I tried going in different directions, but every step I took led me away from that familiar voice that was calling me.

"Is there anybody there?" I called as loud as I could but my voice seemed to be drowned in the white nothingness. "Hello? Somebody?" My cries were in vain, I didn't know where I was but I did know there had to be nothing here for me. I tried recalling my memories so maybe I could remember a clue about how I got here and what this place is but every time the memories surfaced they faded instantly.

I was alone, and defeated, so I sat there listening to the still lingering voice almost inaudible now. My head met my hands and I curled up in space.

I closes my eyes and tried to clear my head, soon the white light that threatened to pierce my closed eyes disappeared, and the voice cut out completely. I looked around. The whiteness was quickly evaporating. Not disappearing but not changing either, the only word I had to describe it was evaporating. The white was water and the black was a hot stove causing steam to rise up in the form of gray colors.

I could do nothing as I watched the world around me, this whatever, wherever I am evaporate. When the smoke cleared I opened my eyes to harsh sunlight of a rising sun.

"Sam!" Dean's gruff voice yelled at me. "Sam you alive?" He called and I sat up with a start.

"Dean?"

"Yeah, take it easy buddy."

"What happened?"

"Uh, I think we died...again." He motioned his head towards the dug up grave behind me and the patch of upturned dirt beside it.

"Did you crawl out of your grave?"

"Not the first time." He replied and sat up trying to get a sense of where we were. I looked around too. We were somewhere a few miles away from a highway, I could hear the car's driving in the distance. We were surrounded by trees, most of them looked dead. I had to wonder how we died.

"Where the hell are we?" I stood up and asked.

"I don't know." I looked around some more and noticed two more patches of dirt beside ours.

"Dean." I called him back, he was beside me in an instant. I showed him the other graves, slightly farther away from ours, but just enough dirt was turned up to let us know it was indeed a grave.

"Laura and Jess's?" He sounded unsure.

"What happened to us?"

Dean didn't reply, instead began digging up the graves with his already dirt stained hands. I bent down beside him and got my hands dirty.

When the graves were finally dug up we found bundles of blankets in each grave, but when we pushed aside the cloth there was nothing there. What would have been Jess and Laura's bodies were just ratty old blankets.

"Someone took their bodies?" I said quizzically.

"No, something. Someone would have left the grave undug. This is bigger than us, Sammy. We gotta get back to Bobby." I agreed and followed Dean out of the woods onto the highway.

There weren't many cars on the highway, but the ones that were driving ignored us. The sun was high in the sky by the time we finally caught a ride from a questionable guy in a family sedan. The man asked us if we needed a ride, Dean got in the passenger side and I sat behind him.

"Where you gentlemen headed?"

"Sioux Falls, South Dakota." Dean told him and the man tore away from the curb.

A few minutes into the car ride and the man began asking about us. "Rough night?"

"What?" I asked.

"Well, no offense, sonny, but you both look like crap."

"Yeah, rough night is an understatement." Dean answered still looking out the window.

"Well it'll get better from here on in." Dean and I shared a skeptical look as we waited for the man to explain. "Think of how happy the boss will be when I bring her the Winchesters." I saw the demon flash black eyes from the rearview mirror.

Dean acted fast though, in an instant he stabbed the demon with the demon knife and took control of the wheel. He shut the engine off and let the car roll to a stop on the side of the highway. When the car came to a stop I spoke up.

"Good to know we're still wanted in the demon world."

"Just another day as a hunter. You should be used to it by now, Sammy." He said as he got out of the car. He threw the demons body on the grass, got in the driver's seat and started the car again. I climbed in the passenger seat and looked out the window, silent for the rest of the ride.

~Dean's P.O.V.~

We arrived to Bobby's junkyard and pulled up to the house, or where the house should be. I slowly pulled to a stop and got out of the car. What Sam and I saw wasn't what we expected to see. The house we called home for so many years was burnt down to nothing.

A million thoughts raced through my mind. "Bobby!" I called instinctively running up to the house. "Bobby! Mercedes!" I called desperately shifting through the rubble. It was useless though, the charred wood was wet and dry, the house had burned down a long time ago.

"Dean!" Sam grabbed my shoulder and tried to yank me back from the rubble. "They're not here!"

"Then where the hell are they?" I demanded bringing my anger onto Sam without meaning to.

"I don't know." Sam replied looking hurt and confused.

This was terrible, I didn't know where Bobby, Mercedes Jess or even Laura were. The house we lived in burnt to a crisp. Not only that, Sam and I just came back from the dead...again and we had no idea how.

"SON OF A BITCH!" I yelled to the sky. I wasn't expecting a response, but I got one. Growling and barking came rushing towards us, when I turned around I saw Sam fall to the ground wrestling with a large black dog.

Sam yelled at the creature and tried to fend it off, but it was too strong. I came at the creature with a knife although it must have seen me as it jumped off Sam and rounded on me. It's lips were curled back into a vicious snarl, I was ready to kill it when I saw bright blue eyes.

"Shilo?" Sam got up and questioned the dog. It replied with a mean bark. "Whoa, calm down. We're not demons!"

I put the knife down and took out the holy water, "Look, see. Not demons." I said splashing it over both of us. Shilo seemed to relax but her fur was still on end.

"Shilo," Sam began gently. "What the hell happened?" She seemed reluctant to do so but she transformed back into Mercedes and talked to us.

"12 years…" She said, her face to the ground. "12 fucking years!"

"What?" Sam and I asked at the same time.

"WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU TWO BEEN!?" She looked up at us yelling her lungs off. Her eyes were red and fragile but it was obvious she was trying to hide it and look strong. "We looked for you everywhere. No demon we talked to knew where you were. And where the hell are Laura and Jess?" Suddenly Mercedes fell silent and she brought out a silver knife. "You're shifters." She said accusingly.

Sam and I didn't have time to let her know we weren't as she came charging at us with the knife. She slashed a gash up and down our arms. When our flesh didn't burn she looked at us, confused.

"Mercedes! Calm down we're not shifters or demons. We're just...us" Sam explained holding his bleeding arm. Mercedes opened and close her mouth, I could see her mind thinking but nothing came out.

"I think," I began breaking the silence. "we need a place to talk."

~Laura's P.O.V.~

I was walking aimlessly around in a pit of nothingness. Looking for someone, anyone. There was nothing around me, nothing for me to walk towards and nothing for me to strive for. The only thing that kept me going was the thought of coming back to Jess, Dean and Sam. As I walked I thought about Mercedes and Bobby, _I wonder how they're doing?_ The thoughts of being with family again were all I needed to keep pushing forward. Though I didn't seem to be getting anywhere. Not that I'd be able to tell anyway because everything was pitch black.

I just kept walking around until I felt a hand on my shoulder pulling me towards a faint red light. As I got closer the light became more blinding to me. I finally had to close my eyes as I went through the light.

Immediately blood-red light filled my vision, a voice came through the static of my mind.

"Hello, love. Finally came back to us, eh?" I slowly opened my eyes to see Crowley standing next to me.

"What the hell?"

"Precisely." Crowley answered. I picked myself up off the ground, turning to Crowley I said.

I looked around and immediately knew where we were. "We're in hell, it looks different what happened?"

"Twelve years of undeserving torture to my beautiful home." I looked at Crowley in confusion. "After you kicked the bucket your lovely daughter took the throne, but Abaddon's still a problem."

"What the hell did that bitch do to my daughter!?"

"See for yourself, love." Crowley said as he took me to a place where we could watch the throne room of hell from the shadows. Sure enough my baby Amarianna was on the throne while Abaddon whispered in her ear. Some lesser demon was on his knees pleading. It sounded pitiful to me, but Amarianna seemed to be persuaded by whatever my wretch of a mother was telling her as her expression changed.

"Fine then. I'll let you live." She said to the demon from what I could tell was begging to be killed. She smiled when the demon's eyes widened. Abaddon's wicked grin set my insides on fire. I was seething with rage, _How dare that bitch corrupt my throne!_ I started to walk down to take back control of my kingdom, but Crowley pulled me back.

"What are you doing?" I rounded on him at once.

"If you confront her now you're walking straight into a death trap. Not to mention you'll put my life in danger. I've spent enough time under Abaddon's thumb but we have to play this right. If you want your throne back come with me." I was still angry that Abaddon had the gall to corrupt my child and my kingdom which I'd worked so hard to build up. I took one last look at my baby and the throne room. A vampire had walked in and was walking with Abaddon, Aria had a sour look on her face, it was clear they didn't get along. There was something about that vampire that seemed familiar. I dismissed it as I let Crowley lead me out of hell.

~Jess's P.O.V.~

Sam wrapped me in his arms for a long needed hug. It felt so good to feel his arms around me again. I may not have remembered what it was to be in the void but I did know that it felt like I'd been gone for years. Which I was, after Cas pulled me back into heaven he filled me in on everything that happened in the twelve years Laura, Dean, Sam, and I were gone.

My eyes wandered to Dean while Sam held me. His face looked sunken and he stared at the ground forlornly. I let go of Sam and moved to Dean, he looked up surprised as I wrapped my arms around his neck. I had to stand on my tip toes to reach it, with Sam he just picked me up off the ground. Dean returned the hug gratefully. I then hugged Mercedes who looked worse off than Dean or Sam did. It made me wonder what those twelve years we were all gone did to her.

I saw Sam holding back tears as he looked at me. He took my hands in his as he questioned me. "What happened? Why weren't you brought back where we were?"

"It's a long story." I told him. Although Bobby's house was burnt down we still found a few tree stumps to sit on while I told them what Cas told me. "Apparently my body was taken by Ithamar."

"Laura's dickbag of a father?" Dean asked.

"Yeah. After we died Ithamar broke out of his prison cell and started a civil war in heaven. Gabriel and Cas gathered all the angels that were loyal to me and tried to hold down the fort but Ithamar has support from Abaddon. When Laura died there was no one to rule hell either. Because of that all the souls that died within those twelve years were cast into the void. Thats where we were. Cas looked for all of us for twelve years, but searching the void for four individual souls is hard enough without the threat of war hanging over your head."

"So where is Laura-?" Mercedes began but was cut off by intense yelling of profanity.

"THAT MOTHER-...BITCH….HOW DARE SHE-" Laura went on and on yelling incoherent things. Something about hell and her daughter. All of us visibly jumped when she came out of nowhere. Crowley was standing beside her giving that look a teacher has perfected when waiting for the class to quiet down. Sam, Dean and Mercedes stood up immediately surprise written plain as day on their faces. I knew I'd see Laura soon enough and seeing her now was like seeing the fires of hell rage out of a ten-mile high volcano. It was best to let her cool down, so I waited with Crowley while the others nearly exploded from anticipation.

Laura's rant went on a while longer until Dean finally reached out to take her hand. Laura stopped immediately, ripped her hand away and reeled back to punch Dean square in the jaw. The force of the hit must have been a lot as Dean fell to the ground clutching his mouth.

Laura looked at him, then up at Sam, Mercedes, and I then finally realized where she was. Her face turned from rage to surprise and guilt in a split second. Dean gasped and moaned on the ground. "Great to see you too, babe." He said sarcastically.

"I'm so sorry!" Laura exclaimed. "I didn't realize it was you." She looked around at her surroundings and noticed the pile of burnt ash and wood. Laura slowly made her way over to the edge of the pile. "W-what happened? Where's Bobby? Mercedes?! What the hell happened?!" Laura was on the edge of panic and seething rage I decided to step in before she could explode.

"Babe, it's okay. Calm down, We'll explain everything." I told her, after we had our reunions and filled Laura in on the twelve years we were gone a question formed in my mind.

"You know, where is Bobby?" I turned to Mercedes who's head hung in shame or guilt I couldn't tell.

She sniffed. "It's been a long time but when the house burnt down...he-" She stopped short there was no need to go any further by the look on her face. "And Amarianna….I tried." Mercedes couldn't go on any longer she put her head in her hands and cried as the rest of us sat in stunned silence. I looked at the burnt down ruins of a life long passed.

_Bobby burnt with the house….theres not even anything of his to bury…_The burning sensation started in my nose that told the onslaught of tears, my vision blurred and I could do nothing but sit there stunned. It must have been the first time Sam or Dean heard this news because they exploded with rage. Some of it angered towards Mercedes but most of it for demons. Mercedes had to explain that it wasn't demons but Laura's daughter.

"WHAT!? Aria did this!?" She shouted pointing to the house.

"Even if I could have gotten him out of the house he wouldn't have lived...Her demons, they took over her...she stabbed him while he slept. I didn't even wake up until I heard her scream."

My mouth dropped and my breath quickened. What a sight that must have been for Mercedes...I couldn't imagine how much it had traumatized her. I was about to ask Mercedes where Aria is now when an old Camaro drove up the driveway.

The driver was out of the car the instant it stopped. Mercedes stood up and walked over to the driver. He wiped a hand through his dirty blonde hair and seemed relieved to see Mercedes. They hugged then talked for a while, then the talking grew louder. With every word the man seemed to be getting more angry. Sam and Dean looked as if they weren't pleased to see the man. Suddenly it hit me, this was the kid that was pulled out of hell when Laura and I first came back from Heaven and Hell as supernatural beings. Sam and Dean had called him Adam.

Adam walked over to the house a worried Mercedes trailing behind. "You used to be a hunter with them!?" He didn't seem to address us as he turned to Mercedes. Mercedes just nodded.

"Wait a minute, you two know each other?" Dean questioned Mercedes mainly but Adam answered anyway.

"Actually we're married!" Adam said angrily. Laura and I shared surprised looks then in perfect sync ran to Mercedes and hugged her.

"Oh my gosh! You didn't tell us you were married! That's amazing!" I squealed in her ear.

Laura hugged her tight then turned to Adam, "You better be the best damn husband I've ever seen." She sort of growled lowly at him. Adam scowled then addressed the matter at hand.

"That isn't important. What is, is that you two never fucking get out of my life!" He yelled at Sam and Dean. Adam portrayed so much anger and resentment for them I was honestly scared.

"Adam, please." Mercedes begged, Adam stopped for only a moment to listen to her. "They're friends. I don't even understand why you're so upset? You've met them before?"

"Adam's our brother." Sam told her hesitantly.

"Half brother!" He hissed back. Then he turned to Mercedes's confused face. "Remember when I told you I was in hell."

"Yeah." She said. "You never told me why though."

"Well it's because of them." He jerked his head towards Sam and Dean who both shared a bitch face. "After Michael used me as his vessel Sam said yes to Lucifer and threw us both in the cage. Only they went back for Sam. I was left there to rot. I only escaped because of Laura."

"You're welcome." Laura bowed comically, no one laughed.

Mercedes turned to Sam and Dean fire in her eyes. "YOU LEFT HIM THERE!?" Sam and Dean immediately looked guilty. They tried to speak but Mercedes wouldn't let them. "Adam has nightmares every night because of you two! You both know full well how much torture hell is, Sam, you more than anyone, how could you leave your own brother!"

"Half brother." Adam corrected her more quietly now.

She continued as if he hadn't spoken. "I thought you guys cared for family!?"

They both tried to say something but nothing would come out of their open mouths. Mercedes had never openly attacked them like that before. Frankly Mercedes could be scary! Her shifter teeth showed a little when she shouted adding the fear wolves put into their prey. Mercedes continued to stare down the boys while the rest of us were left in silence.

~Laura's P.O.V.~

I quickly grab Mercedes by the hand and zap away to a remote island beach in the middle of the ocean. She finally calmed down enough to realize where we were.

"How could they have left him in hell?" Mercedes sat down in the sand. I sat down next to her and looked at the water. "They're his family."

"I know, but it's been Sam and Dean for their whole lives, not Sam, Dean, and Adam. I don't think they're used to having another sibling yet. Especially, Dean."

"That doesn't make it okay." She was about to get angry again but Jess put her hand on her shoulder.

"It also doesn't change what happened. I'm sorry they left him in hell, and so are Sam and Dean. The one thing Sam and Dean both hate about themselves is how much they let other people down. I know because Dean told me, but you can't change the past."

There was an awkward silence in which I zapped us back to Jess, Sam, Dean and Adam. I stood back as Mercedes walked over to the boys and apologized for her earlier outbursts. She and Adam then turned and walked away together, I couldn't help but notice he put his arm around her as they talked. I made my way over next to Dean and he automatically placed his arm around my waist.

"What did you say to her?" Dean asked me.

"I basically told her that you both feel bad about leaving him in the cage and that you can't change the past." Dean looked forlorn and sighed.

"I would- I would do it all over again if I could."

"I know, babe." I patted Dean's head and took his hand. "Now, what are we going to do about my mother and our daughter?"

"What the hell happened to Aria?" Dean asked concerned and confused, instinctively reaching for the knife under his coat.

"Apparently she's running hell now." I said bitterly.

"She's what?" Jess came up with Sam.

Before I explained everything Crowley showed me to them though, Mercedes and Adam spoke to us again. Adam went first. "Hey, why don't we take you guys to our house. Seeing as Bobby's is burnt down." He looked uncomfortable but the look on Mercedes's face told me she was the one who forced him to invite us over.

"Also, demons are known to investigate this area now. I'd rather we all talked together somewhere safe." Mercedes added.

"I could kick their asses if needed. They took my baby."

"Seeing as we've apparently been gone for twelve years, we should go with Mercedes." Jess said to me with a thankful look from Mercedes.

"But… okay."

"Don't worry we'll find Aria and Elijah in time, I know it. Right now we need to know what the hell is going on before we start jumping to conclusions."

"I can't help it. I'm her mother. I need to protect her from that monster that has her."

"You mean Abaddon?" Jess asked and I nodded fire in my eyes. "What does she want with Aria?"

"Hell if I know but I'm going to kill that son of a bitch! I don't care if she is my mother."

"I know. I'm gonna freeze over hell if Elijah was hurt." Jess was seething I realized now, but she was holding back lest she start an earthquake. I agreed with her and we all piled into Adam and Mercedes's car.

~Jess's P.O.V.~

As it turns out Adam and Mercedes had been married for a few years, after Bobby was...well after he passed away. Mercedes tried to find Aria but it was all she could do just to escape from the burning building. Mercedes told the story of how she escaped while Adam drove.

"Aria locked me in Bobby's old room, the door was too hot to escape from but luckily there was a window, I transformed and crashed through the glass. I tried to look around for her but she was gone. With all the smoke I couldn't catch her scent, much less breathe. I got away with only my life. For a long time I roamed the streets again, Cas contacted me a few times only to bring news of what was happening in heaven. Then I met Adam." Mercedes, who was sitting in the front seat, took Adam's hand as he drove. They shared an intimate look. I was glad to see Mercedes finally found someone she obviously loved. _At least those twelve years weren't all pain and agony._ I concluded as Mercedes kept talking and broke me from my thoughts.

"Laura…" She spoke softly, I could tell from her voice that she was about to say something personal. "I'm sorry...I'm sorry that I couldn't take care of Aria like you'd want. And I'm sorry I wasn't there for Eli either. After you two died in the djinn nest we only found Aria...Eli had vanished…I'm sorry." She added after a long time of silence.

As much as I wanted to scream and yell at undeserving victims to tell me where my child was, I knew it would do no good. I bit my lip to hold in the bitter words that would escape otherwise. Sam grabbed my hand and squeezed. I didn't look at him but squeezed back.

I forced myself to look at Mercedes through the rearview mirror and smiled uncertainly. I didn't even convince myself with that smile, there was no way Mercedes bought it, but as she looked back she half smiled. I could only take that to mean understanding. Laura on the other hand was being unusually quiet. She sat beside Dean in the cramped back seat and hung her head. Her hair covered her face so I couldn't read her expression, but I knew she was seething with anger and impatience. I knew because that's the same way I felt, we both wanted to get out there and kill the bastards that kept our children from us. I sighed, _there's no use rushing in like a fool. I need to gather information on what's happened since we've been gone. _

The rest of the car ride was mostly silent, as Adam pulled into his driveway I noticed how well Adam and Mercedes had done for each other since we'd been gone. They didn't own a mansion however the large townhouse on top of a hill overlooking mountains did wonders for people who had previously been used to wandering the streets with no home.

Adam and Mercedes walked us inside. It was nicely decorated with a country home theme to it. Dean cut straight to the point. "So how do we kill the bitch of all hell's demons?"

"Cas or Crowley would probably know." Mercedes suggested.

"Cas might be too busy with the civil war going on. I don't know for sure how bad it is but when I was up there he barely could get in a word of warning before the angel's temporary base was infiltrated. Cas seems to be in a pretty bad way. I'll need to get up there and help him as soon as possible." I told everyone.

"You said Ithamar has support from Abaddon," Sam continued. "If that's true our first priority should be bringing down the head bitch herself."

"Because if Ithamar has no support from Abaddon," Dean began.

"He can't continue his war on heaven." Laura finished.

"That may be so but we can't ignore him either." I thought for a while my mind wrapped up in strategies of war.

"First things first though," Mercedes began. "You said Abaddon had Aria in hell?"

"Partially true, she's not holding her against her will but Abaddon is using Aria to control hell from the shadows. She's acting as her 'advisor'." Laura put quotations around the word and emphasized it with an exaggerated look of annoyance.

"We should find a way to talk to Aria." Mercedes spoke with confidence. "Maybe if I can talk to her I can remind her of the family she left behind." She wore a sad expression that nearly melted my heart. Mercedes really did try her best to take care of Aria, despite everything that happened she still considered herself responsible for Aria's safety.

"I'm going with you then." Laura spoke with certainty that dared anyone to oppose her.

"You're not going alone." Dean put his hand on Laura, his face resolute.

"I think three should be the max amount of people going. Now that Abaddon rules hell she'll most likely have tight security. Even if she doesn't know we've come back from the void she'll have us listed as public enemy number one." I proposed the idea and everyone else agreed, nodding their heads. "Then in the meantime, "I continued. "I'll report to Cas and Gabriel. I'll find out where Eli is and bring him home." I gave Sam a look of determination, which he returned with a nervous smile.


	3. Chapter 3

~Laura's P.O.V.~

When we showed up in hell we hadn't expected to be greeted by Crowley's welcoming committee. Actually they weren't very welcoming, all the demons there looked like they wanted to burn us alive then see us in hell and burn us again. I was almost certain the only thing keeping them from doing so was their loyalty to Crowley.

"What did you just think you'd waltz in here and expect Abaddon not to find you?" He asked sarcastically.

I rolled my eyes. "We haven't been seen yet have we?"

Crowley sighed, "Follow me." He turned around and with a wave of his hand his demons dispersed into clouds of dust. Most likely they were acting as guards, hiding in the shadows ready to cause a distraction if we chance to come close to detection. Mercedes seemed jumpy when she was in hell, more than a few times she was startled into transforming by something I couldn't see or wasn't there at all. Eventually Mercedes stayed as Shilo for the remainder of our time in hell. At least Shilo's soft puppy pads would keep her from making too much noise, Dean on the other hand was stomping around with his combat boots. I glared at him.

"What?"

"Step lighter. We don't want to make too much noise." Dean looked down at his feet then back up at me and shrugged.

Finally we found Aria, or at least her throne room. Aria wasn't seated in her throne but she was walking around the room, pacing it anxiously a worried hell-hound puppy following her like it was lost. I couldn't tell what she was murmuring to herself but when I tried to approach her Crowley stopped me. He put a finger to his lips and waited.

We were hidden behind a wall by the doorway of the throne room, Aria couldn't see us. I thought we were going to be detected when a boy walked by, but his only focus was Aria. Either he didn't see us or didn't care, as he strode right up to her not even bothering to bow or show signs of respect like I saw other demons do with her.

When Aria paid the boy no attention he loudly cleared his throat, Aria stopped in her tracks. She saw the boy and sighed. "What do you want, Sebastian?"

_Sebastian! _The name struck me as familiar and then I remembered the vampire child we rescued from the nest that one Halloween night. _My how you've grown…_ I looked at him and it wasn't hard to see the infant he used to be. Although I sent him to hell to be raised by a vampire nanny I did visit him from time to time, but the last time I saw him he was barely older than six.

"In relation to those vampires you sent to earth-" Aria cut him off.

"I already told you! Their mission is to be completed soon! Don't get all anxious just because you haven't heard anything yet." Sebastian frowned and Aria continued, seemingly not content unless Sebastian was seething with rage. "Don't get your hopes up either. It's not like the vamp nest will accept you! Just remember the _only _reason you are still allowed in hell is because you were raised by _her_!" Based on Aria's words I thought she meant the vamp that raised Sebastian while I was away but her tone suggested it was me she was referring to, and none too lightly either. "Don't test me, abomination."

Sebastian hissed, showing his fangs in anger. He looked about to retort but Aria waved her hand. Sebastian's mouth closed instantly and he turned around. If he didn't see us before he saw us on his way out. He paused just long enough to give me a sideways glance that suggested something between mischief and anger. He didn't address anyone else and kept walking.

Crowley walked in first, followed by Shilo, who transformed back into Mercedes and then Dean and I. Aria noticed us walk in almost immediately when she saw Mercedes her eyes opened wide into an expression of shock, but when she saw Dean and I her mouth closed, her eyes squinted. I could feel immediate distrust in the air.

"Aria-" Crowley began exasperated, he opened his mouth to say something then seemed to think actions spoke louder than words.

"What's going on?" Aria seemed to have a million thoughts racing through her head while she decided to ask the obvious.

"Pumpkaboo…" Mercedes began tenderly. "We want you to come home." Aria just stared at Mercedes an unspoken message seemed to pass between them but for the life of me I couldn't decipher what is was.

"Who the hell are they?" She shouted at Crowley, demanding an answer pointing at Dean and I.

Crowley gave her a look that said 'You know who they are.' My daughters mouth closed and she stared at us disbelievingly. Then her head shook multiple times over and over.

"No…" She started out saying then got louder. "NO! I did my waiting! Twelve years of it, in hell! After all this time they can't come back here after twelve goddamn years!"

Crowley seemed surprised to see her so mad, he backed away even though the shouting was directed at him. Aria seemed to be doing everything she could not to look at us as I talked to her she wouldn't even turn her head.

"Nice film reference, darling." When I called her 'darling' she glared at me with fury like fire burning in her eyes. "We just want you to come back home so we can be a family again." I explained trying not to provoke her. At the same time I wanted nothing more than to run to her and hug her to death.

"You mean so you can take the throne again!" She shouted, then added at my surprised face. "That's right dear mother, Abaddon told me all about your power hungry craze where you took over hell. According to every demon I have under my control you ruthlessly charged into hell and declared yourself their ruler." Aria scoffed then continued. "How self-centered, To think a person as worthless as you could call yourself my mother!"

"AMARIANNA JADE WINCHESTER!" Dean shouted his voice reverberating through the throne room but if he was gonna say more Aria cut him off.

"Don't you dare use that line on me! I'm not your kid anymore! You missed your chance at being my father, now you can't expect me to act all father-daughter with you!"

"Aria please." Mercedes pleaded taking a step towards her. "I'm sorry I couldn't help you that night-" She broke off mid-sentence. Everyone knew she was referring to the night Bobby died, but the memories must have been too painful to bring up. "I'm sorry I couldn't be there for you but I finally have a chance to reach out to you. Please Aria come home and we can be close again."

Aria scoffed again and rolled her eyes. "I don't need a family. I'm the queen of hell bitches!"

I walked forward a bit. Aria tried to use her powers on me but failed. I kept walking towards her as she started to get a little scared. "You need to mind your language, young lady." I walked by her and sat on the throne. Once I did everything turned back to the way I had left it. The bright red-orange that had taken over the room's color scheme turned back to dark red and black, the way it was when I ruled. "See, Aria, you are not the queen of hell…. I am."

Abaddon suddenly appeared next to Aria and addressed me. "You have no right to talk to the queen this way."

"Hello to you too, _mother_." I replied. "What lies have you been filling my child's mind with?"

"They're not lies!" Aria said defiantly standing between Abaddon and I. "She told me the hard truth about you. She opened my eyes so I could see the parents you really were, not the parents childish notions created."

"Honestly, it hardly seems fair." Abaddon began, I clenched the throne's arm rests as my teeth grinded, I could hardly stand her. "You come back after twelve years and demand things to go back to normal. You two weren't there when Aria was growing up. Thanks to me she became a beautiful, confident and smart queen of hell. That's more than you could ever say you did for her."

"YOU BITCH!" I launched myself out of the throne aiming for Abaddon's throat. Right before I reached it Aria used her powers to slam me against the wall. I fell to the ground dazed for a moment as the stone wall crumbled a little when I sat up.

"Don't touch her!" She shouted at me, then turned to Abaddon concern clearly written on her face.

Abaddon smiled evilly. "It's okay, darling. You don't need to protect me. You see she can't hurt us, she's simply a washed up shell of her former self."

"Alright, now you're pissing me off." I heard Dean mutter as he took out the demon knife. He and Abaddon locked eyes and it was like watching sharks circle prey.

"NOW!" I shouted to Dean hoping he'd get the message as I used my demon power to hold Abaddon in place. Dean understood as he lunged with the knife pointed at Abaddon.

"NO!"

Dean's knife didn't hit the intended target, when I noticed Abaddon wasn't dying on the ground my eyes moved to Aria's bent over form in front of her. I could see her demon side flickering inside her ever so slightly.

The breath was sucked from my body and my heartbeat stopped altogether. I grew tunnel vision and everything was a blur. It was like I'd taken a blow to the head resulting in a major concussion even though I wasn't the one who'd been stabbed.

Aria fell to her knees, Dean backed away in horror. I gathered my wits just enough to see Abaddon scowl down at her, then she scoffed. "You stupid child! That wouldn't have killed me anyway! Now you've gone and got herself hurt."

There was no sympathy in Abaddon's voice but none the less she bent down by Aria and ripped the knife out despite the blood that poured from her wound and mouth. Abaddon picked Aria up, letting her drape an arm over her shoulder and putting an arm around her waist to hold her up.

Abaddon frowned at Dean, then as she looked over to me, her frown lines grew deeper. "I'd really love to kill you both right now but thanks to _you _I have a soul to save." Abaddon disappeared before I could say anymore. She left and took my baby girl with her, I was left with one arm extended in reach for something that had been lost for a long time.

The room was silent and only broken when Crowley spoke. "Well, that was dramatic...We should probably leave now. Wouldn't want to end up on the receiving end of a demon's killing spree."

~Jess's P.O.V.~

"Son of a bitch!" The lights exploded, glass shattered and there were angelic voices, quite loud enough to drown out my swear words.

I cannot believe I'd gotten myself involved in an deadly angelic debate of politics. Any humans in the area would have had their ears bleeding to the point of death, but civilians had rushed out in screaming terror a while ago.

According to the voices, Balthazar wanted to see heaven restored to what it once was, which is why he'd sided with Ithamar. But I knew what kind of heaven Balthazar wanted, a heaven where angels are kept under strict orders to follow all superiors strict and unjust orders. He wanted a heaven with no free will, a heaven that Cas had spent the recent decades fighting against.

No actual fighting had begun yet, just two higher angels yelling at each other. It put an image into my mind of two presidential figures offering highly educated debates before they join in the ring and box it out to see who's the next president. All angel fights started like this, at least all the ones I'd seen so far which weren't that many.

I pushed all thoughts out of my mind until the only thing I was focusing on was what I'd come here for. Heaven had proven to be vacant aside from the usual sentries to defend it. The sentries told me I could find Cas or Gabe on the battlefield. So far I hadn't seen Gabriel but I noticed Cas as I hurried across hallways of broken glass.

_Why did the angels have to choose an accounting firm for a battlefield? _I wondered not for the first time as I stumbled into cubicle after poorly placed cubicle. I found Cas by the lunch rooms with a map of the US on one of the lunch tables laid out for a quarry of angels to look at. They seemed to be plotting points across America that served as possible base of operations for Ithamar and his army.

I put a hand on Cas's shoulder, he reeled back instantly. "Jessica. Good, you're here we need help with-"

"Cas, I'm not here to help you fight."

Cas scowled. "Then why would you be walking around on the battlefield?"

"I want you to tell me where my son went." I told him. I was unwilling to take no for an answer and I let that show in my voice as I stared Cas down. He sighed and walked me out of the room of conversing angels.

"Jessica I'm not sure if now is the time or place to worry about Elijah."

"Of course it's not! But you're going to tell me everything you know of his whereabouts...I won't take no for an answer."

Cas paused looking everywhere and avoiding eye contact. Then his eyes met mine again and he took a deep breath. "I don't know."

I hesitated. "That's it? You don't know? I thought angels were able to find anyone in the world they wanted to find?"

"Not with Elijah, he is your kin which makes him invisible to us. If that were not the case you surely would have felt where his presence is by now."

"Cas you gotta help me out here-"

"In case you haven't noticed we are once again involved in a civil war with our brothers!" He began sternly and I knew I'd struck a nerve. "Everything else aside we could really use your help to take back heaven. That's why we claimed your body back from Ithamar so that we could restore you _and _your power to make peace again."

My eyes fell to the floor. I hadn't thought that after twelve years of having no ruler heaven would be so willing to find one again, especially after I only inherited the throne from the Seraph powers all four archangels bestowed upon me. "Cas...I want to help but I don't believe I can be of any use. Heaven has gone twelve years without me as it's ruler. I can't come back now, especially when I was never qualified in the first place." I trailed off unable to think of anything else but failing all of heaven.

"Why do you think the archangels gave you the powers of a Seraph?" I looked at Cas but he offered no opening to answer as he continued. "Only the strongest souls are able to survive the process of becoming one. You must realize that. The fact that you are worthy of the powers a Seraph has should be reason enough for your position as leader of heaven."

"Why me, Cas? I heard you became king of heaven once? Why not just go back to your old position?"

Cas looked at the ground sadly. "It did not end well, did you also hear that?"

I looked away sheepishly, honestly forgetting what had happened after Cas claimed the title of God. "You are still more qualified to lead then me. Whatever mistakes the past holds do not matter as long as you are willing to drive forth into tomorrow."

"Jessica…"

I sighed, "Forget it, Cas. I can understand why you think I should rule heaven but I can't. I've never been a leader. I just want to find my son."

Cas nodded his head. "Humans do have very complex feelings regarding their children don't they? Very well, then. I don't know where Elijah is, he never came back to heaven once you died. A few angels reported seeing him but he never declared anything about himself, it was like he was actively trying to escape any kind of contact with not only angels but humans as well. His last known location was somewhere among the deserts of Arizona, but even that was three months ago."

I tried to fake a smile to reassure Cas of his helpfulness. "It's not much but it's somewhere to start. Thanks, Cas." I almost turned away from him but I stopped myself, "Oh and, when I find him. I'll come back to rip Itamar's army to shreds." Cas didn't offer a smile only a confused expression, he must have taken it to mean literally. None the less he accepted the offer as something meant to be helpful with a nod of understanding.

I zapped out of heaven, as much as I desperately wanted to find Eli I had to find Sam first. We may not have had much time as a family but if I knew Sam he would be stewing in feelings of guilt and helplessness at not being able to do anything but wait for Laura and I to come back with our children. I wanted to find Eli and I wanted to find him with his father by my side.


End file.
